Wednesday, February 26, 2014

QUETTA: The president of PFUJ (Pakistan federal Union of Journalists), Hafiz Afzal has declared Pakistan as the most dangerous place for journalists, with 103 of them being the victims.

Addressing the 2nd 3-day meeting of central executive committee (CEC) of PFUJ here in Balochistan’s Provincial capital, he expressed his strong concerns that unfortunately none of the killers of the journalists, facing multi- faceted wraths of terrorism, official censure and high discriminations of media bosses , had been brought to justice.Speaking on the occasion, President Afzal Butt cited 35 journalistic killings in Balochistan, and while paying rich tributes to the resolving that nothing would deter the journalists from conveying truth to masses.Terming the year 2014 as worst for journalists, he also lambasted callous and indifferent rulers for being totally indifferent to problems faced by journalists. “When in opposition everybody terms journalists as Apple of their eyes, while once in power, these very journalists rather become a sore thorn in eyes” he scoffed, resolving that “we would have to fight our Jihad against such discrimination and suppression of truth”.Joint declarations for immediate resolve of 7th wage board award, compensation fund for kin of slain journalists, arrest of murderers of journalists, and unwonted downsizings and replacements in media houses were also approved, and publicly announced.A regular movement from PFUJ platform, for creating awareness among journalist fraternity about their rights was also agreed upon, and 20th March was selected for being celebrated as “day of demand(ing rights)”, during which thousands of journalists from across Pakistan would stage a sit-in outside Punjab Assembly.The presidents and secretaries of all respective journalistic unions also presented their performance reports, while also deliberating over administrative issues. The CEC also asked all union journalists to open their memberships, and complete the scrutiny process for expediting elections.The event was participated by PFUJ presidents, secretaries of Rawalpindi-Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Abbottabad, Multan, Rahimyar Khan, Sukkur, Hyderabad and Karachi.